New Nevada Co MMJ Guidelines OK'd

http://www.theunion.com/article/20070608/NEWS/106080161&SearchID=73284379199896
Revised medical pot guidelines OK'd
Medicinal marijuana advocates say no validity to
changes; law enforcement says original rules
misused
By Laura Brown, laurab [at] theunion.com (Nevada Co., CA)
» More from Laura Brown
12:01 a.m. PT Jun 8, 2007
If you're carrying a medical marijuana
recommendation, you'd better count your crop.

The allowable number of marijuana plants used for
medical purposes was recently reduced from 10 to
six in a set of guidelines approved by the Nevada
County Office of the District Attorney and local
law enforcement.

The Nevada County Medical Marijuana Inter-Agency
Protocol was approved late Wednesday night -
changing the guidelines local medical marijuana
users have followed for seven years.

Medical marijuana advocates say the protocol has
no validity in a court of law and is a lot of
hoopla. They caution that it could turn
legitimate novice users to the black market to
obtain the drug illegally because the allowable
number of plants has been reduced.

Local law enforcement members said it's an
improvement over previous guidelines which, they
say, gave criminal growers more latitude. They
said that the previous recommendation of 10
plants was more than people might use for
medicinal purposes.

However, some question whether it is even legal
to reduce the number of plants that can be grown
with a prescription.

"In my personal opinion, it's much ado about
nothing," said Martin Webb, an advocate for
medical marijuana use.

The guidelines are not statutes, ordinances or
regulations, the protocol reads. They do not
supersede a doctor's recommendation and do not
hold up in a court of law, Webb said.

"A lot of patients think these guidelines are
what they are allowed to grow. A lot of folks are
really confused," Webb said. "I really see it as
law enforcement's attempt to threaten or scare
people to do what they say."

He said ill patients new to growing marijuana
could turn to the black market if their attempts
to grow six plants outdoors fail.

Advocates and law enforcement both agree that
when Californians originally voted for
Proposition 215 in 1996, they did so to help
critically ill people. However, law enforcement
says there has been an abuse of the regulations.

"Now there's these people using marijuana for a
sore foot or a personality disorder. Everyone
knows it's been taken advantage of," said Capt.
Ron Smith of the county sheriff's office. He said
the new protocol will give law enforcement
tighter controls.

With the old limits, people were growing 10
plants whether they needed them or not, District
Attorney Cliff Newell said. Now, the county is
more in line with the state's recommendation of
six plants.

"People just automatically defaulted to the
10-plant limit," he said. The result was an
excess amount of the herb that was then sold for
criminal profit.

The state also allows people with recommendations
to keep 8 ounces of processed pot, while Nevada
County allows 2 pounds, something that didn't
change.

A marijuana plant can produce highly variable
amounts of pot depending on the soil, lighting
and whether or not it is grown indoors or
outdoors. It is possible for one plant to produce
2 pounds of marijuana.

For this reason, a qualified patient may possess
an amount greater than the guidelines suggest if
the amount is consistent with a doctor's
recommendations.

Newell said the protocol was not designed to hurt
legitimate medical users but to crack down on law
breakers and criminals.

"Medical users are pretty low on the list of priorities," Newell said.

To download the protocol, visit the district
attorney's page on drugs at: http://www.mynevada
county.com/da/index.cfm?ccs=656

ooo

To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail
laurab@theunion .com or call 477-4231.

2007 Nevada County Medical Marijuana

Inter-Agency Protocol

Qualified patients and caregivers will be allowed

* To maintain no more than six mature female
plants compared to a 2000 protocol that allowed
for five to10 plants

* No more than 75 feet of vegetative canopy growing at one time

* No more than 2 pounds of processed marijuana
will be allowed despite a draft version of the
protocol that called for changing the amount to 8
ounces

* A limit of 12 immature plants was taken out of the new guidelines

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Dale Gieringer / California NORML (415) 563-5858 // canorml [at] igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
Come to NORML's 36th Annual National Conference in LA
'Cannabis, Creativity and Commerce'
Los Angeles/October 12-13, 2007
Registration: http://www.norml.org / 888-67-NORML